Scat-a-gories ...toddler poop smearing - help!
May 22, 2020 1:48 PM Subscribe
My 24-month old daughter has been playing with her poop during naptime for about 6-months. We have a poop disaster requiring bathing, washing all bedding, the walls and the cursed unfinished Ikea crib on average, once a week. It's a nightmare. Ideas for practical solutions, please!
I don't really know what info is pertinent here. She says 'poo' if she's pooped while not napping and I promptly change her. But if she poops during her naptime and manages to get into her diaper, she'll smear it around and play with it for a good hour before starting to cry, alerting me to the fact that she's awake when I thought she was sleeping. She's clearly having a grand old time doing it. I hoped the phase would pass, but there's no sign of it lessening at all. I've heard of the duct tape trick but my husband is afraid she will manage to unwrap it and get it around her neck. There is ONE thing that seems to help, and that's putting her in her sleeper backwards so that she can't get at the zipper. I think it's only a matter of time before she circumvents that too.
Here is what we have tried:
- only dressing her in overalls. She still got in.
- only dressing her in onesies that snap on the bottom, with pants. She still manages to get in (today she got her arms out of it, pulled it down to her waist and then reached into the pants)
- explaining that it's yucky
- letting her play with playdough
Any other ideas? Reassurance that this will end soon?
I don't really know what info is pertinent here. She says 'poo' if she's pooped while not napping and I promptly change her. But if she poops during her naptime and manages to get into her diaper, she'll smear it around and play with it for a good hour before starting to cry, alerting me to the fact that she's awake when I thought she was sleeping. She's clearly having a grand old time doing it. I hoped the phase would pass, but there's no sign of it lessening at all. I've heard of the duct tape trick but my husband is afraid she will manage to unwrap it and get it around her neck. There is ONE thing that seems to help, and that's putting her in her sleeper backwards so that she can't get at the zipper. I think it's only a matter of time before she circumvents that too.
Here is what we have tried:
- only dressing her in overalls. She still got in.
- only dressing her in onesies that snap on the bottom, with pants. She still manages to get in (today she got her arms out of it, pulled it down to her waist and then reached into the pants)
- explaining that it's yucky
- letting her play with playdough
Any other ideas? Reassurance that this will end soon?
Best answer: Childrens Place have long and short legged onesies pajamas suitable for the wearing backwards trick. I have seen parents add a velcro flap to cover the zipper top or sort of thread through the top of the zipper. People do use a safety pin, but I'm not sure this is a great idea. Childrens Place Onesies
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 2:15 PM on May 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 2:15 PM on May 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Could you double up and try a zippered sleeper with a sleep sack? Ergo Pouch make sleep sacks and footless sleeper pyjamas that are very light weight and meant for summer; we have some of their winter weight ones and they are great. The sacks have cap sleeves rather than being sleeveless so that should make it harder for her to slip an arm inside. Both the pyjamas and sacks have large flaps over the ends of the zips that snap closed, and maybe that would provide some deterrent to little hands.
posted by sizeable beetle at 2:18 PM on May 22, 2020
posted by sizeable beetle at 2:18 PM on May 22, 2020
Video baby monitor so you can catch her before it gets too far?
posted by beandip at 2:28 PM on May 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by beandip at 2:28 PM on May 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Can you leave better toys in the crib? Use a baby video monitor? Increase fruit like prunes and blueberries so poop is looser and absorbs into the diaper more?
I would express real displeasure at the mess and grossness. I would not worry much about using duct tape; we used it on dipes that tore.
posted by theora55 at 2:29 PM on May 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
I would express real displeasure at the mess and grossness. I would not worry much about using duct tape; we used it on dipes that tore.
posted by theora55 at 2:29 PM on May 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
We had a short phase of this around that age.
I kept my response super boring. I don’t think you can necessarily make a kid lose interest, but keeping my voice calm and just taking care of the aftermath without making any kind of deal of it was the only thing I could think to do.
It helped to have many pairs of hands - one to bathe or otherwise clean the child, one to strip the bed and wash walls. And we just kept our heads down and told ourselves it was a phase.
She’s old enough that you can tell her it’s dirty. Sometimes it was hard for us to keep from yelling, but we tried to keep it super factual while scrubbing my kid’s nails.
You will survive! It’s so frustrating, I’m sorry.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:31 PM on May 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
I kept my response super boring. I don’t think you can necessarily make a kid lose interest, but keeping my voice calm and just taking care of the aftermath without making any kind of deal of it was the only thing I could think to do.
It helped to have many pairs of hands - one to bathe or otherwise clean the child, one to strip the bed and wash walls. And we just kept our heads down and told ourselves it was a phase.
She’s old enough that you can tell her it’s dirty. Sometimes it was hard for us to keep from yelling, but we tried to keep it super factual while scrubbing my kid’s nails.
You will survive! It’s so frustrating, I’m sorry.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:31 PM on May 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Any ideas for sensory toys I can leave in the crib? I usually avoid leaving anything other than stuffies in there or she won't go to sleep but it's worth a try. I'm thinking now of my nephew who almost certainly has a sensory processing disorder and who used to rip the baseboards off the wall of his bedroom for lack of simulation I'm assuming and had to be locked in due to all the mischief he got into. Maybe I should start to familiarize myself with this world - not to get too far ahead myself here, but she's definitely a very, very active little girl and her older sister has inattentive type ADHD.
posted by kitcat at 2:55 PM on May 22, 2020
posted by kitcat at 2:55 PM on May 22, 2020
+1 for the little sleeper keepers linked above. My twins both did this, and they were little Houdinis at escaping pjs. These worked like a charm and we’re worth paying duty to get them to Canada. Buy a few. They really truly are amazing.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 3:13 PM on May 22, 2020
posted by Valancy Rachel at 3:13 PM on May 22, 2020
Have you concidered moving her to a toddler bed? You may be able to stop the fascination by giving her the option to leave. If she can just get up and go do something else, she just might especially if it seems during the day she just isn't interested.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:55 PM on May 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:55 PM on May 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
While this does not hep with your immediate issue, 24 months years old and being able to verbally tell you that she's pooped sounds like a perfect time to start potty training.
posted by warble at 12:26 PM on May 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by warble at 12:26 PM on May 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kitcat at 1:55 PM on May 22, 2020 [1 favorite]